Chapter 56
I looked up at Zabiria standing before me, feeling both ashamed and apologetic.
There he was: the enormous, beautiful embodiment of terror known as the “Black Dragon.”
Zabiria glared at the two Blue Dragons that had taken to the sky again and let out a roar.
On instinct, I cast a soundproofing spell around the knights. If they heard Zabiria’s roar properly, they wouldn’t escape unharmed.
Even after seeing Zabiria, the two Blue Dragons showed no sign of retreating. They circled overhead, baring their fangs and trying to intimidate him.
...Zabiria had said...
That he used to be a Blue Dragon, and didn’t want to fight other Blue Dragons.
If I couldn’t grant him even that one wish, I’d be a failure as a friend.
I reached out and touched Zabiria, patting his body.
“Thank you for protecting me. And thank you for intimidating them. Leave the rest to me and the knights.”
Then I turned back to the knights. Every one of them wore the same expression.
Their mouths hung open, their eyes wide.
“T-The B-Black Dragon King...?”
“The l-legendary dragon, an ancient species... It r-really exists...!!”
Then they looked at me in astonishment.
“F-F-F-Fia! The Black Dragon King is our enemy, right? G-Get away from him!!”
“Y-You’ll be killed! G-Get away!!”
The only one with a different expression was Commander Quentin. He clasped his hands, overwhelmed with emotion, and stared at Zabiria.
“What... What a noble sight...! To be granted the honor of gazing upon you in person—what extraordinary fortune!! Beautiful, majestic, divine... Ah, how utterly meaningless words are!!”
...Yeah, Quentin was as incomprehensible as ever.
Perhaps Commander Quentin’s reaction had set him off, though I doubted it, but one knight burst into laughter as if his emotions had broken loose.
“...Shit. I’m so scared I’ve started hallucinating and hearing things. I could’ve sworn Fia called the Black Dragon King by name and talked to him. And it looked like she was patting him like they were close. Shit. My eyes and ears are busted!”
Yep, everyone’s confused. This is my chance.
...In all this confusion, maybe I could cast an enhancement spell on the knights without them noticing...
I raised both hands toward the knights and prepared to cast the enhancement spell.
But just as I was about to cast it, Zabiria gently bumped his head against me from behind.
Surprised by this unusually affectionate gesture, I turned to look at Zabiria.
“...Zabiria?”
“Fia, thank you for taking my foolish words seriously. I was out of my mind. How could I mistake what mattered most? ...I was about to make a mistake I must never make.”
As he spoke, Zabiria turned his gaze toward the Blue Dragons circling in the air.
“Leave those two to me. Fia, I was wrong to say I didn’t want to fight Blue Dragons. What I want is to protect you.”
Without waiting for my reply, he spread his magnificent wings and beat them, soaring into the sky.
With only a few beats of his wings, Zabiria rose above the Blue Dragons.
The Blue Dragons seemed wary of Zabiria, who had suddenly closed the distance. They took up positions to his right and left, threatening him with their gaping jaws.
As I looked up at the three dragons facing off overhead, I felt my mouth go dry.
...What should I do? Zabiria was bigger, but one against two was a disadvantage.
The two Blue Dragons were a mated pair, and if they attacked in coordination, it wouldn’t be easy to fight them off.
Blue Dragon scales were hard as it was, and Zabiria hadn’t even become an adult yet. Would his fangs even pierce a Blue Dragon’s scales?
The more I worried, the more anxious thoughts filled my mind.
But Zabiria, seemingly oblivious to my concern, glided down.
He didn’t seem to care that the Blue Dragons had him flanked. As they roared in warning, he descended without a care.
Without bothering to threaten them, Zabiria suddenly turned toward one of the Blue Dragons and sank his fangs into its neck before it could even brace itself.
“………………Huh?”
From where I watched the battle at an angle below them, it looked as if Zabiria had injured the Blue Dragon with a single bite. That was all it looked like.
And yet, right before my eyes, the Blue Dragon split in two at the neck where Zabiria had bitten it. Its two halves fell away under the pull of gravity.
“Hey, get out of the way!!”
The knights shouted and ran, trying to get clear of where the Blue Dragon was falling.
The bisected Blue Dragon crashed down with a thunderous roar, right where the knights had just been standing.
An enormous cloud of dust billowed up.
Some of the knights were blown away by the impact of the Blue Dragon hitting the ground.
The knights who had fallen on their backsides stared up at Zabiria, stunned.
“………………W-What was that?”
“D-Does the B-Black Dragon King... is he really that strong?”
“T-T-Terror! Th-That’s the Black Terror...!!”
At the end of the knights’ awe-struck gazes was the other Blue Dragon, raging with fury.
How furious must a Blue Dragon be, in the breeding season, after its mate has been killed?
With a mighty roar, the Blue Dragon rose toward Zabiria... only to be batted away by Zabiria’s waiting tail.
Zabiria then opened his mouth wide toward the Blue Dragon flying away, moving as if to roar.
Even with my soundproofing spell in place, Zabiria’s roar carried a shockwave. I tensed instinctively.
But what came from Zabiria’s mouth wasn’t an ear-splitting roar. It was a pillar of flame.
The pillar of flame shot straight toward the Blue Dragon.
It pierced the throat of the Blue Dragon, which had been knocked diagonally through the air, then continued onward with undiminished force, scorching part of the forest black.
The dead Blue Dragon dropped straight down, just like the first, and slammed into the ground with a thunderous crash.
“………………Huh.”
This was my first time seeing Zabiria fight, but he was so strong that I couldn’t form a coherent sentence. I just opened and closed my mouth.
...W-What was that just now?
Z-Zabiria was that strong?
B-But he was still a child...
The knights around me seemed just as shocked. Not one of them could move; they all stood there in a daze.
As everyone stared blankly, Zabiria descended at an easy pace and landed near me.
Then he straightened his back and looked at me in silence.
I was still stunned, but I looked up at Zabiria to thank him for saving me.
Then I noticed something odd about his appearance.
“...Zabiria, did you always have horns?”
Looking closely, I saw a magnificent horn growing from the center of his forehead.
But I didn’t think it had been there before... Wait, was it?
“...Fia, I think I’ll become king.”
Zabiria murmured with resolve, speaking to me while I was still confused.
“Huh? K-King?”
Taken aback by his sudden declaration, I asked in surprise.
Wait, hadn’t Commander Quentin and the others already been calling him the Black Dragon King?
Seeing my surprise, Zabiria gave a small nod. “Yeah.”
“There are plenty of monsters that live in groups, so someday the power of numbers will overwhelm me on my own. That’s why I’ll become the Dragon King and bring all dragons under my command.”
“Um... ah... okay. If that’s what you want, Zabiria...”
Come to think of it, we’d talked before about whether he should become king. If that was what Zabiria wanted... I had no choice but to support him.
I wanted to accept Zabiria’s wish, but I felt a pang of sadness at the thought of him leaving.
“Fia, when a Black Dragon becomes king, three horns grow. I never wanted to become king, and I didn’t know how, but when I tried to protect you, one horn appeared. ...That’s right. There’s no such thing as a king alone. I suppose I can only become king—and grow all three horns as proof—when I protect and lead a great many dragons.”
Zabiria stared at me and chuckled softly.
“Fia’s recklessness always exceeds my expectations. I’ll become someone who can protect you, then come back.”
As he spoke, Zabiria used his forepaw to snap off the horn growing from the center of his forehead.
“...Huh?!”
I looked up at Zabiria in shock, but by then the horn, as tall as an adult, had already plunged into the ground with a heavy thud.
“A-A horn that had just grown...! What have you done...?”
“T-The B-Black Dragon King’s hornnnnnnnnnnnnnnn...!!”
Commander Quentin’s shout was so loud it completely drowned out my voice.
Zabiria glared in turn at Commander Quentin and Commander Zachary, then opened his mouth as if to threaten them.
“I’m leaving Fia in your care. Make sure she stays alive until I return.”
Then he kicked the horn he’d just dropped toward the commanders.
“That’s your payment. Use it in place of your dull swords to protect Fia.”
“T-To make a sword for me from the Black Dragon King’s horn...!!”
Commander Quentin fell silent, overwhelmed with emotion.
“I will protect Lady Fia, absolutely, even at the cost of my life!!”
And just like that, he made a momentous promise without a second thought, all because he wanted Zabiria’s horn.
“W-Wait, Commander Quentin! You can’t break a promise made to a monster! It’ll become a contract! Think it through first...”
“No need to worry, Lady Fia! I’d do anything for the Black Dragon King’s horn!!”
“I-I see...”
As I thought that there was nothing I could do if that was what he wanted, Zabiria lowered his neck and brought his face close to me.
He looked at me with a serious gaze, then opened his mouth.
“Fia and I are connected, so if anything happens to you, I’m the first one who’ll die.”
“What?!”
I cried out in shock at his incredible statement, and Zabiria chuckled.
“So, I still want to do all sorts of things with you, Fia. I’d be happy if you didn’t do anything reckless.”
“I won’t! I’ll be on my best behavior, I promise!!”
“Hehe, that doesn’t sound like you, Fia. Just keep being yourself. If you call for me, I’ll always come running.”
Zabiria winked and tilted his head playfully.
“I’ll be back before you forget about me, Fia. ...See you.”
I touched Zabiria’s face with both hands and pressed my forehead against his.
“...Yes, Zabiria. I love you. I’ll wait for you to come back.”
After hearing me out, Zabiria beat his wings and took off into the sky.
And then, in the blink of an eye, he flew away.
I only remembered the procedure decided at the commanders’ meeting after Zabiria had disappeared from view.
“C-Commander Quentin, y-you have to throw a rock! Throw a rock from Sacred Peak Kurodake!!”
At my voice, Commander Quentin came to his senses and belatedly threw a rock in the direction Zabiria had vanished.
“W-Well, we may have done it out of order, but we did follow the procedure, right?”
No one responded to my mutter.
I looked around. Commander Zachary and all the other knights were gazing blankly at the sky where Zabiria had flown away.
...Ah, yeah. Zabiria was too striking.
Like the knights, I looked up at the sky Zabiria had flown away into—the same sky Zabiria must also be watching.
The beautiful yet fearsome “Black Dragon,” an ancient species of legendary rank.
The future Dragon King, with the strength to defeat Blue Dragons with ease and the pride to aspire to rule.
And my adorable friend, affectionate, sleepy, jealous, sarcastic, and always on my side.
I’ll be waiting, so come back soon.